The story speaks about the thin line between life and death. It narrates how a parent is willing to give everything to his/her child. And it pains me to see that other parents just don’t care at all. I remember Albom saying in The Five People You Meet in Heaven that parents, in one way or another, wound their children. And this is again explained better in this novel. The father told his son, “You can be a mama’s boy or you can be a daddy’s boy, but you can’t be both.” Parents sometimes compete for the love of their children. But there are times that a child would give everything just to get the love and approval of a parent not realizing that his efforts hurt the other one. And just as Chick’s mother said, “A child should never have to choose.”
For One More Day reminds me of how important life is, no matter how tough it gets. It reminds me that I should love the people around me, especially my family, so that I would not need “another day” just to tell them how much I love them. After reading the book, it made me wonder of the missed chances and all the failures I have experienced. There were a lot of low times. There were times when I think that the best strategy is just to run away, to give up. But this story prompts me to give another try, to trust life, and to never give up on it. It showed me that there are people out there who would hurt me. And my initial reaction is to hurt them back. But the only thing that would free me from all the pain and grudge I keep to myself is to forgive them. And I cannot forgive other people unless I forgive myself.
I am not a perfect daughter. I don’t have the perfect parents. And our relationship is far from perfect. But I will spend each day to be the best that I can be.
Grab a copy of Mitch Albom’s For One More Day. This will make you think twice on everything about your life. It’s a must-have if you just want to have a good cry. :)
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